Monday, September 20, 2004

I admit that I had become a little desensitized to the news of more hostages taken, the warnings of beheadings, etc. from over the weekend. How many have been taken in this war? How many have been brutally murdered? I was sick that while on a certain level I was able to acknowledge that it’s wrong and we’ve got to stop these madmen, there was another part of me that had compartmentalized the horror of the reality of what these killings really are. I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t care enough anymore. And so with the news of another American hostage being beheaded today, I decided it was time to do what I hadn’t done before and what I really didn’t want to do - take a look at the pictures.

I’m not linking them. You’ll be able to find them anywhere on the internet. And if you don’t get it, if you don’t get the sick horror of this, then you should probably look at the photos, too. Because after looking at the still photos of the beheading of Eugene Armstrong that nauseating knot that I had in my gut on the day of the news of Nick Berg’s beheading is back in my belly and it’s all I can do to keep the tears at bay.

The still photos are probably not nearly as awful as the video. But they were enough to make me sick - sick to my stomach and sick at heart. My prayers go out to his family and to the families of the other men who’ve been killed and for the hostages who are still being held and their families.

And my resolve about this war is increased - these monsters must be stopped.